Shattered Bodies and Reborn Souls
by Lidsworth
Summary: In a split second, a rock collided with his skull, shattering his sense and ability to live a normal life among others. A year later, a disabled Naruto still suffers the result of the aftermath, all the while, a patient Iruka cares for the shell of his former student. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I just needed a break, a short break. So, this is what my melted brain (completely cooked by the Texas heat) came up with.**

**Summary: In a split second, a rock collided with his skull, shattering his sense and ability to live a normal life amongst others. A year later, a disabled Naruto still suffers the result of the aftermath, all the while, a patient Iruka cares for the shell of his former student.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

While burdened with Naruto as a new student, Iruka had taken the advice of previous teacher's before him, who'd been given the short straw regarding the placement of Naruto, and decided to simply ignore the boy.

Ignore his pranks, ignore his tricks, ignore his voice, ignore his presence, ignore his soul, ignore him, he'd learned to ignore Naruto Uzumaki in hopes that the class would do the same. That the boy would become nonexistent, that the problem, the demon would finally disappear.

Words were tortures tools, and silence was a stealth like killer. A killer that he prayed would end the nuisance and the monster sitting in the back of his class.

And after a while, it worked, Iruka found it almost relieving. Like expected, students followed his example, many fearing punishment if they acknowledged the boy, or his recycled antics, they'd have hell to pay once Iruka-Sensei accused them of association.

Things were perfect, and Iruka finally had the kyuubi under his fingers, instilling his revenge on the boy slowly and painfully, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, Iruka ignored the boy, ignored his cries and ignored his eyes.

His eyes that told all.

So with little to do, with little to live for, Naruto became a faceless student, no longer reverting to pranks, bothering the teacher or bothering the students.

They only brought pain in his opinion, no one payed any attention to him anymore, no one laughed at him, no one even acted as if had existed.

Desperately Naruto wanted to protest, wanted to cry, wanted to tell someone, anyone.

But the hardest part to realize, the hardest part to comprehend was that no one cared, no one would listen. And when Naruto realized this, a whole new fear had befallen him.

The fear of being forgotten, the fear of losing himself.

It started in the classroom, and out of fear of invisibility, Naruto learned walk alone in secluded areas, to avoid walking in the crowded streets, avoid waking where villagers were large in number. They may have seen him, they may have not. But each meeting and each regard promised pain, spoken and unspoken.

He confided to the newly found voices in his head, voices that were his friends and voices that cared. Voices that developed when he suddenly became transparent to a group of children, to a single teacher, to an entire community. Voices that told him to walk alone, only because people would do the same, continue to simply ignore him.

Voices that whispered schizophrenic, but only so Naruto couldn't hear.

They told him he needed a new identity, a new mask, that with them, he wasn't simply Naruto, he was many. No longer lonely; A head full of souls, a head full of societies.

He became familiar with them.

They screamed at times, yelled, cried, laughed and giggled, they told stories of destruction, being consumed by a fox, being trapped in it's belly. That was why they were there, they had claimed, that over the centuries, a monster had consumed their souls, trapping them in it's body forever. And as a result, they could speak to Naruto.

He found the stories infringing, amazing, so he talked to himself, he talked to them.

He'd talk to himself (to the voices in his head) in his apartment, talk to himself on the walks back home. He'd talk loud proud, laughing and arguing, unaware that he was being followed, that he was being stalked. People stared, people noticed. They were scared, they were fearful for themselves and their families. The Uzumaki was speaking to himself it had seemed, or had he spoken to the fox? He spoke often, and they only concluded (amongst themselves) that he was conversing with the beast, conspiring with it.

He hadn't paid any mind to them though, he was too absorbed in thought, too absorbed in conversation.

Infact, one day he'd been so distracted by the voices, so unable to chose for himself, that right after school, he ran out, dashed out, excited to get to his apartment so the voices, his friends (the only ones that loved him, acknowledged him) could tell him another story. So he ran and ran and ran, finding a shortcut, one he'd never taken before.

Into an alley?

He guessed.

He made his way to turn around, realizing he was trapped.

And suddenly, shadows filled the open gap, closing in on him, evil smirks plastering their dark faces.

They lifted their hands, rocks balancing in their palms.

Naruto tilted his head, the voices remained unnaturally silent.

And the first stone was hurled, it hit his arm.

Still confused and slightly disoriented , he brought his free hand to his arm, only to be pelted in the thigh, again by another stone. By this time the voices started up once more, loud and protestant, but Naruto was overwhelmed. He was scared, and so were they (the voices), so scared they yelled uncontrollably, in turn, causing Naruto himself to scream.

"FOX, DEMON, MONSTER," they had chorused, rocks hurling one after another, fast and potent.

The collision silenced him, silenced them all, as a stone pelted with his head.

They paused momentarily, perhaps fearing they went too far.

CRACK went his skull. The lights flickered off and the voices went away.

They'd done what they needed to do, and for a monster like Naruto, they believed overkill was a necessity.

The stones continued to pelt the boy.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OO

**Passive, right. **

**Hope you liked it. My take on Naruto's childhood, had to do something that was believable, because the manga is getting dumber by the chapter. I'm so disappointed. Anyway, I think that Naruto, realistically, could have gone insane, so this is what my brain came out with. Please review, next chapter will have Iruka in it (YEA! :D)**

**On a side note, so you who don't live in Texas know what i mean when i say "HOT" weather. I can't even leave my dog outside. Picture Africa with it's burning temperature, bring it to America to a place called Texas, take away the breeze and erase the clouds and turn it up a few degrees higher and you've got Texas. A big ass state with some big ass temperatures. From standing outside for five minutes, I got suntanned TO THE EXTREME. And to make matters worse, my brain is melting. Aside from the stress of Junior year ( i fear for my SAT scores), I have teachers who don't know what the hell they're doing! :#$ $ ! $$% Whatever cuss word that means. Anyway, have a nice week, God bless (:D. **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I really would really like it if you guys reviewed the story, please! I doesn't take long, doesn't have to be very big either.I really want to know what you think and what I could have been better, so please, review. Anyway, sorry for any spelling errors, this is a raw version, not Beta'd or anything.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

A period of tranquility and peacefulness had befallen the village.

The menace had died, met his "untimely" demise in an accident. The village breathed easily now, the threat of a demon no longer hanging over their heads. Things were perfect, in synch, compete.

The day his death had reached the majority of the village, fireworks had been set off, music had been played, and a celebration had ensued.

For the first time In eight years, the village was in peace.

And for the first time in what seemed like a hundred years, Iruka could finally breathe again. He remembered the first day that the administration had told him that Naruto would no longer be attending classes, later revealing that the boy had died.

Iruka distinctly remembered fighting to hold back a grin, to sit still while a jolt ran through his body, urging him to jump for joy. But he hid it, nodded, and turned towards his class, letting them know the news.

The reactions were different, all ranging from happiness (Ignorance of the parents), confusion, boredom, and if Iruka looked closely, a twinge of sadness, perhaps guilt. But seldom did he see it in the faces of the students, only a handful seemed to share these expressions.

Iruka had shushed the class, kept them quiet and continued class.

A pattern soon followed, classes fell silent and into order, and the empty seat that belonged to the dead boy became a forgotten memoir of his tragic memory.

When Iruka walked throughout the village, stopped and looked into stores, he could practically feel the happiness leaking off of the civilians and shinobi within the village. Now and again, phrases such as, "Finally he's gone," and ,"The little beast is finally gone," had been tossed around multiple times by different people until it became the occasional mantra of the village.

And then things suddenly changed, suddenly came to a sudden halt.

With on chance meeting with the Hokage, Iruka's life had been turned upside down, inside out.

He remembered the meeting well, he kept replaying it over and over again, emotions and actions all combines, all intertwined.

An ill-fated parent teacher conference which had resulted in chairs flying, yelling and shouting (mainly on the parents part) had caused suspicion of the Hokage, as the meeting had been centered around issues regarding the care of the child. Iruka had suspected abuse and neglected, had been permitted to hold a meeting with the parent, and had nearly gotten his head knocked off by a chair flying at incredible speeds.

Now the placement of the child had been the final stage and the reason that the Hokage had called iruka for the meeting. Obviously, the parents treatment of the child reflected well on the treatment that had given to Iruka, and now he was to speak to the Hokage of possible foster homes (he was a teacher and an orphan himself, he knew his fair share of foster homes).

The meeting was in the Hokage tower as usual, held in the Hokage's own office. On his way there, Iruka had taken slight notice to the increased number of ANBU, as well as their moving around the tower freely and quickly, almost as if they were searching for something. Iruka did his best to ignore and to think little of their actions. Matters regarding ANBU did not concern him.

The Hokage, if aware of the situation outside, showed little to no signs of caring whatsoever. The meeting started out slow as usual, a quick summary of the the parent conference and information regarding the child.

A blur of yellow flashed in the corner of Iruka's eye, and against his better judgment, he turned his head in the middle of the Hokage's sentence. he assumed, however that the Hokage took no offense to it, as his aged eyes were peering directly at the corner Iruka had just looked towards.

At least Iruka wasn't going crazy.

What was that though?

For a moment, an awkward silence ensued, and by the look on the aged man's face, Iruka assumed his mind had practically been read.

"Um_" and Iruka had planned to finish, had planned to ask the unspoken question, had an unknown force not had a sudden death grip on his leg.

He stiffened, and so did the Hokage.

Because, under the desk below him, Uzumaki Naruto, who was supposed to be dead, was grabbing his leg like it was a stuffed animal.

He was terrified, terrified, and the Hokage lifted a hand to calm him, his own mouth agape and confused.

Naruto grinned at his former Sensei, lazy eyes and flushed face, unfocused gaze. Iruka stood, the boy's gripped tightened, a giggle erupting from his small form.

Iruka breathed.

"Naruto…?"he asked hesitantly, unsure of what else to do. Naruto was supposed to be dead, gone, left to suffer in whatever level of hell was reserved for him. But here he was, material and physical, staring like an idiot at Iruka.

"Naruto," Iruka was stern now, his "teacher" voice kicking in.

However, Naruto gave no acknowledgement to the seriousness carried by Iruka's voice.

"Iruka," the Hokage had called him out of his trance, "Naruto is no longer the same...he's gone, mentally, he's gone."

Suddenly, a feeling of guilt overcame Iruka. He looked again towards Naruto, the boy was still smiling, still straddling his leg tightly, giggling uncontrollably.

This definitely wasn't the trouble maker he remembered, the hoodlum who sat in the back of the class. This was different, this was scary.

"What happened?" he dared asked, suddenly terrified of the answer.

"He was stoned by a group of children, we assume," the Hokage responded with a sigh, "the brain damage took it's toll, he's too far to help."

Iruka nodded in understanding.

Had he wanted Naruto to suffer like this, in his head, was this the revenge the boy deserved? Or was this the cause of forcefully housing a beast that was hated by everyone, because surely, this smiling boy was not the monster the village had made him out to be.

If only Iruka had come to realize this earlier.

Naruto smiled, and finally let go of Iruka, walking towards the Hokage.

His step was wobbly and unbalanced, so unbalanced that out of instinct, Iruka followed him in fear that he'd fall.

"Careful…" and the moisture fell from his eyes, the guilt running down his cheeks. How could he be so stupid, so cruel, so uncaring. He was a teacher and he was too late.

He brought a hand to his face to hide his tears, and Naruto awkwardly turned around and fell into Iruka's legs again, laughing uncontrollably as he did so, his face more flushed than ever. His words were unintelligent, unclear and more like grunts and squeals of happiness as he tried to wedge himself into Iruka's legs.

Naruto had lost his ability to speak.

Iruka cried harder, the Hokage watched the scene before him unfold, new thoughts swimming through his head, and a confused and unsuspecting Naruto continued to laugh.

OOOOOOO

**Hope you liked it, sorry if it was a little confusing, But the last part does require some level of maturity in order to fully understand what's going on. Naruto has severe brain damage, thus, sever retardation. Don't worry, this isn't the last chapter, depending on the reviews and feedback I get, i'll put up the next one (so please review). Sorry for such a long wait, but i've got lot's to work on. **

**I do think this is lagging, compared to the first chapter, and not as planned out, but the 3rd chapter should cover for that. **

**So, please review, tell me watcha think of it so far, and God bless.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks for all of your wonderful reviews :D I know i've answered some of you by email, but if you're concerned with the gaps inbetween the story, they should be answered in this chapter. Also, this will be the LAST CHAPTER of the story, so count on a bitter-sweet ending. Again, please review, helpful critiques are welcomed. No flames though, or no "put downs" (flames come in many forms). This chapter may be shorter than the last two, or maybe longer. I just have an idea for it, so the length may very. Anyway, hope you like this chapter, it's Beta'd so there should be little to no mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OO**

It had been a little over a year since the crippled child had wrapped himself in aroud his former teachers legs, and a year since he'd completely wedged his way into Iruka's heart.

Challenging at first, Iruka hadn't entirely been sure about taking on the job of Naruto's permanent caretaker. He loved Naruto, but at the time, the burden weighed too heavily on his shoulders.

In Iruka's mind, Naruto's condition was an indirect result of his carelessness and neglect towards the boy. Had he just gotten to know him, if he'd only tried to reach out to Naruto, then perhaps the boy would no longer have to suffer such a fate.

This very guilt he harbored acted as an obstacle which obscured his reason and actions regarding Naruto. And on top of it all, he was riddled with confusion.

Why him, surely there were others capable of watching the boy. He'd known whom his father was, he knew the connections the Fourth Hokage had had in the village. So why on earth would the Third choose Iruka to watch Naruto.

His answer had been simple.

"To heal yourself, you must heal others first," he had solemnly instructed, obviously the pain and confusion burdening Iruka had been evident to the Hokage. But still, that wasn't enough, when questioned about others capable of watching the crippled Naruto, the Hokage had gone of speaking of love that only Iruka held, love and understanding that no one could convey to Naruto at the moment, not even his most trusted elites.

Iruka at the moment had believed that the Hokage's judgment had partially clouded. In the first few months of his discovery of Naruto, Iruka felt as if he was suffering the most. Truly, he doubted his ability to care for a specimen such as Naruto. The boy had been like porcelain before, but now, with his disability, he was like glass.

Iruka felt as if he was the nervous child with trembling hands, steadily holding the glass that was Naruto. He felt that accepting the offer to take Naruto under his roof would result only in shatter shards of glass with no one left to pick them up.

Yet, he accepted the offer, he didn't decline,.

A small part of him believed that if the Hokage had faith in him, than he ought to have faith himself, no matter how little it was.

The first few weeks were terrible.

As terrible as it sounded, these first few weeks determined whether Naruto would stay with Iruka or whether the teacher would give him up to higher authority which was highly discouraged by the Hokage.

So things began in sequence.

First began the accidents. Iruka had expected those, and he'd been briefly promoted by a medic about little things Naruto could no longer do. Using the restroom normally was one of these things. So rather than having Naruto pee his pants or constantly soiling a diaper (because even the boy disliked it), Iruka took another approach.

He re-taught Naruto how to use the restroom. The Doctor did not say it was impossible, he had, however said it would be very hard and "almost" impossible. The head trauma had reduced Naruto to that of a brainless child, any hopes of him progressing in brain function crushed.

So Iruka worked with what he had. He was a teacher afterall, solving problems was his speciality.

Naruto's walking had to be tackled first, the boy tripped over the air. So when Naruto had to go, Iruka walked with him to the restroom, allowing the boy to wrap his small frame around Iruka's leg and slowly the two continued on the the toilet.

That was also another problem.

Naruto was always on the short side, but ironically, so was Iruka. The toilet was too high for him, so Iruka had adjusted that too.

Naruto hadn't stopped wearing diapers for a while, until Iruka was almost certain that Naruto would no longer soil himself. It began as a pattern. A week would go by and Naruto had managed to stumble to the restroom all by himself (of course Iruka followed in the shadows), but then the next, he'd come to Iruka's room tracking up pee as he went. He tried to be optimistic.

Iruka had again put the diaper back on Naruto and resumed his training with the boy.

Walking was something that could never be fixed. Naruto would always stumble. Iruka had learned that the hard way. The Doctor had told him that that was impossible, that walking was far-fetched and not to amuse himself with such ideas of Naruto walking ever again. It pained Iruka to know that this boy whom had wanted to be the Hokage could no longer fully run or sprint, could only stumble and at best, be restricted to a wheelchair for long distance transportation.

It was a sad compromise, but it was the only thing that could be done.

Eating, in the first few weeks, proved challenging as well. Naruto could not and would not eat solid chewable foods. He let it fall from his mouth, not even attempting to chew at it. Not only was it gross, but it was annoying. Iruka considered baby food, but considered that Naruto was still growing, and baby food did not have all the supplements Naruto needed to continue to grow. Ramen was no longer an option either.

So Iruka improvised. He'd spend hours crafting Naruto's weekly supplements, measuring the right amount of meat, of vegetables, of fruits until he'd come up with a healthy drink like substance that Naruto should actually like to drink.

After numerous failed attempts, he'd come up with the right solution.

It had been "okay'd" by the doctor, and the only judge left was Naruto himself.

The blond had loved it.

School was another contributing factor to Naruto's stay with Iruka. Obviously, the ninja academy was out of the question. Not only did many believe Naruto to be dead, but he just couldn't function with normal people anymore. So Iruka searched above and beyond for a school that catered to Naruto's needs. He didn't even think of searching in the ninja part of the village, instead he turned to the civilian part.

The Hokage had done his research of schools suitable for Naruto, but hardly any fit his needs. Naruto was already a special case, just any ordinary school wouldn't cut it for him. But he needed to go to school.

Iruka had to work and Naruto had to learn.

So a school was found. More specifically, a tutor was found.

She was like a "babysitter" to some extent, Iruka would drop Naruto off at his new civilian school on weekdays, and he'd be taught all of his subjects by one teacher. She was background checked by the Hokage, a suitable teacher to cater to Naruto's needs, and above all, she had a kind heart that was capable of giving him the love he needed to learn.

When that had all been taken care of, Iruka had just one more issue regarding Naruto to deal with.

The nine-tailed fox.

It was suppressed by powerful seals, however, that didn't mean it didn't hurt Naruto. It tortured him with it's words, at time gathering up so much chakra that it gave the small child agonizing stomach aches that no amount of painkillers could cure. During those painful moments, Iruka could only watch helplessly as the boy wailed and screamed as the beast further assaulted his mind and body knowing full well that as his caretaker, Iruka could do nothing. It was as if he was missing something, as if there was a void to be filled, and Iruka did not have the key to do so.

And then there were times when Naruto sat alone away from Iruka, looking dumbly into space as if he was staring at nothingness. Iruka believed at those moments, Naruto was fighting for himself within his head, fighting to control his body and his mind. Iruka wondered if the normal Naruto was deep inside of there, especially during moments such as those, if he was the actual one fighting for his identity, not this brainless child that Iruka had begun to care for.

OOOOOO

It had almost been two years now, and Iruka steadily pushed Naruto through a near empty part in the civilian district. He contemplated on his time with the boy.

Needless to say, the first few weeks composed of "Trial and Error", and complete patience on Iruka's part.

His life had become routine, very routine. Naruto had adjusted well with his schedule. Already he was improving in his restroom training. The diapers were almost a thing of the past though Naruto had accidents every now and then. Naruto also spoke, little words though, not large words, just simple words. He thanked Naruto's private tutor for that. When Naruto said one thing, he hardly stopped saying things. He was so proud of himself for his speaking accomplishments that he professed them to the entire world.

He knew how to greet himself, he knew Iruka's name, how to say , "Pee", how to say, "Hungry", "Sleepy", "Sick", "Happy", "Sad", "I love you."

The last one had been a life changer for Iruka.

Iruka had never thought of it before, never thought of what Naruto had seen in him aside from being a caretaker. And this paved way for questions regarding Naruto, this set Iruka aside from just being a normal caretaker, a normal foster parent.

This made Iruka a part of Naruto's family and Naruto apart of Iruka's.

It was a change for the better, a change that Iruka had gladly learned to except. And suddenly the Hokage's words, "To heal yourself, you must heal others first," made a lot more sense.

Patience had aided him, Naruto guided him and love had healed him. The very love that Naruto muttered to Iruka, the very love that filled the void and contained the beast locked within the boy, and the very love that gave Iruka the strength to continue to act as a parental guardian towards the shattered mind.

So when Naruto unexpectedly chorused the phrase, "I love you," Iruka didn't surprise himself when he suddenly began to join in.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo**

**The end. I hope you all like it, it took my 3 days to write. Also, there's only one chapter left for Adult Decisions, and i'm planning to post it Monday. Constructive criticism is welcomed, i'd really love it, but just regular reviews are fine as well. A pretty bitter sweet ending, huh? Again, I hoped you liked it, tell me whatcha think and God bless :D**


End file.
